Archez - a lovely village in the Axarquia

We have been watching the films about the Napoleonic wars and Spain in the renowned series of books and videos depicting Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe. The Spanish military maps are great and wondered if they are still available. 

Farmers are important in every part of the world, providing food for the nation.   One man I met explained how he his first olive harvest on his mother's small farm in Moratalla, north west Murcia in Spain. The olive oil was imported to the UK and sold to delis, wholefood and grocery stores.

We also know of a beautiful vineyard in Sayalonga. The wine is sold in Dublin which is great, as I may be able to get some when I am there in August 2026. 

There is an art walk every September in Competa, near Malaga. It is a good example of art and the environment to together.   Art and enhancing community engagement with support for net zero and climate action is key and examining the ground on which we walk.  

Competa is not on the Caminos but we just love Competa and all of that area.

We noted the unfortunate black outs in Spain last week. Energy in some form is very necessary, even if it is the beautiful Andalucian horses.  Their dung can of course be made into biomass, but there are many technologies making up the energy mix. Solar is of course one of them, and again that was discussed in the context of installations in the Torrox area many years ago.  In the mountains, there are many opportunities to build mini grids and pump water using solar, and this is used on a small scale in places. Then there is the big solar farm near Almeria all off grid. Desalination plants in Spain using solar was also discussed.  The discussion took place on line, and the energy cafe run by St. Andrew University also presented solar in Cuba. All in all, a very Hispanic day. 

We spent many happy hours walking in the Sierras Almijaras, especially around the Competa area. The route to Acebuchal from Competa to Frigiliana was one of our favourite places. We discovered qumkwats and other exotic fruit. Now wish we had been more artistic and looked more closely. We were though, looking at history, and the history of Acebuchal is fascinating in itself. 

We started our Spanish art walk with Salvador Dali and Joan Miro, and continue with Pablo Picasso.  We had some wonderful years in the vibrant city of Malaga, which is full of galleries, great places to visit.  Competa has its annual art walk in September and there are some marvellous artists there.  Art in Andalucia is often inspired by the Arab cultures as a result of the Al Andalus era. In Andalusia the dawn of art actually began 25,000 years ago when prehistoric man decorated caves in the province, painting in charcoal, blood red, 

We looked at other Spanish artists aside from the wonderful Salvador Dali.  We were in Asturias some years ago, in Aviles, and saw an exhibition by the artist Joan Miro, a Catalan. Then of course, there is Pablo Picasso, after whom the Malaga airport is named, and the very famous Guernica, a depiction of the bombing of the town in World War II. 

Nature and art are definitely linked, through the Donana National Park and the Flow Country Partnership in Scotland.  We wrote about that some years ago. 

We are moving forward on two fronts, energy and art. The energy and vision of Salvador Dali is apparent as you start to look at his work in depth. He was certainly a visionery.  I went to Figueres to his birthplace some years ago. It was a great trip, and I also went to Cadaques, which is fascinating.  I flew from Northern Ireland to Girona and stayed there for a couple of days before taking the trip to Figures and Cadaques.  It was wonderful being near the sea, as I did not live near the sea in Northern Ireland.

Back to energy, I visited the most remote hotel in Scotland which runs totally off grid in the middle of the peatlands. We discussed previously the parallel between the Peatlands of Caithness and those a Donana National Park. 

In 2026, we turn our attention to art and the environment, and hope that a colleague will continue to write about off grid energy matters.  We love Salvador Dali, and went to his birthplace some years ago now.  The Competa Art group have the Art Walk every year,, and it is a great way to enjoy sustainable travel "virtually", as we design links between Scotland and Spain. There are many good artists all over Spain.  The country seems to inspire them, as Ireland inspires great writers.

We turned our attention to Spain again, and off grid energy was discussed.  We lived off grid in Competa for 14 years, but thinking of the walking in Spain, it is just amazing, and we link up with the Caminos and with This is Spain, where we also have a page. The culture, the history as members of the Nerja History Group, our links with Spain are long.  We climbed in the Sierras Almijaras, in Asturias and travelled all over Spain.